Vile Victorian sexual predators: Corey Fiddes, Leigh Howes, Timothy Milne and more

Victorian sex fiends aren’t just sickos lurking in the dark. They can be your neighbour, estate agent or even a cricket club volunteer.

Victorian sex fiends (clockwise from top): Timothy Milne, Leigh Howes, Corey Fiddes and Hamish Ahearn.

A former semi-pro basketballer, a cricket club stalwart and depraved tech professional are among the vilest sex sickos to have their names exposed to the public.

An ex-Victoria Police member and a regional tree lopper are also among the fiends to front Melbourne courts this year.

CRICKET CLUB SEX CREEP LEIGH HOWES

Melbourne-based cricket club fiend Leigh Howes told a magistrate he received “nasty” phone calls from “former friends” after they found out he had preyed on a young girl.

Howes faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in April for sentencing after pleading guilty to multiple charges including encourage a child under 16 for sexual activity.

The defence acting for Howes highlighted a media article which led to the 33-year-old receiving “nasty” and “distressing” phone calls from “former friends and associates”.

Magistrate Kay Robertson, however, said “people had to trust the justice system” as she convicted him.

Leigh Howes pleaded guilty to child sex offences. Picture: Facebook.

She told him to report any alleged criminal behaviour from former associates to police, and made him a registered sex offender for 15 years.

Howes escaped jail and was instead placed on a two-year community correction order after he used Snapchat to encourage a teenage girl to send him sexual pictures.

“F--- I forgot how beautiful your boobs are,” the fiend said.

The victim sent Howes a photo which he screenshotted but then asked the girl to “go lower”.

Howes also asked the child — who he met while volunteering at a cricket club — if she was “shaved or hairy”.

Howes was involved at several Melbourne cricket clubs.

The victim told Howes to “stop saving my snaps” because if caught “you’ll go to jail”.

Howes begged his victim to send more lewd images after he promised her he would not save screenshots but she refused.

He also sent the child images of his penis on multiple occasions.

Howes was reported to sex crime investigators on January 2 last year and police raided his home where they caught him with lewd images of the child.

Howes, of South Morang, also admitted the penis photos were his and claimed he committed the offending because he was “sad”.

“I have struggles in my life,” Howes told police.

The defence also submitted Howes has been involved in cricket since he was a child and had been involved at various clubs including Strathewen Cricket Club and a Mernda-based cricket club.

DEPRAVED SICKO TIMOTHY MILNE PAID FOR CHILD RAPE VIDEO

Depraved tech sicko Timothy Milne who paid for vile videos of children being raped was exposed after he was busted with child abuse material at Melbourne Airport.

Milne was sentenced in the County Court in March to a minimum three-year jail term after pleading guilty to groom a person to make it easier for a child to engage in sexual activity.

Milne was nabbed at Melbourne airport after returning from a combined work/holiday trip to the US on September 5, 2022.

Australian Border Force officers searched Milne’s phone and discovered a child abuse material video.

Milne told investigators he communicated with a friend called ‘Van’ who he paid for videos involving “actual children”, the court was told.

Timothy Milne pleaded guilty to multiple child abuse material charges. Picture: Facebook.

Milne told police he knew he was “doing something wrong” and “everyone knows such conduct to be wrong”.

Milne, who also pleaded guilty to possess, access and solicit child abuse material, claimed he only watched the vile material before watching “adult pornography”.

“(Viewing child abuse material is) probably … a little bit of a turn on,” Milne said.

Authorities seized Milne’s devices and discovered the fiend had horded more than 900 child abuse material files.

The vile material included lewd images of videos involving male children as young as four performing sickening acts with adults.

Some of the material depicted young male children being raped.

Police also discovered lewd communication between Milne and several overseas persons.

Milne’s depraved conduct occurred while he lived at Point Cook between November 2021 and September 2022.

Milne was a tech guru prior to going into jail. Picture: Facebook.

The court heard Milne paid another man 10,000 Thai baht ($413) to watch him “f--- a 12-year-old boy” but there was no evidence the sickening crime took place.

Milnes also “haggled” over a price while communicating with a child who had planned to “make a f---” video and Milne could “order it”.

Milne eventually agreed to pay $35USD ($53) but said the video “better be good” and he hoped it would depict the child “f--- deep and hard”.

The court heard Milne, a former CFA volunteer, grew up in Warburton before he graduated from Swinburne University.

Milne was most recently employed as a ‘Easy Workforce Software’ technician but quit that role just prior to his court hearing in “anticipation of being imprisoned”.

Milne was jailed for a maximum of five years and made a registered sex offender for life.

FORMER VICPOL FIEND MARCUS JONES BEATS RAPE CHARGE

Former Victoria Police member Marcus Jones sexually assaulted a woman following a New Year’s Eve booze session but was found not guilty of a rape charge.

Jones fronted the County Court in February after he was found not guilty of rape but guilty of sexual assault.

Jones, who was also found not guilty of a second sexual assault charge, violated his victim following a News Year’s Eve party.

The court heard Jones drank Jim Beam and Coke during the NYE party, which was attended by several guests, including his former girlfriend.

Jones, who fronted court for the jury verdicts on November 2 last year, claimed he only drank 10 standard drinks but a witness said the fiend was “loud and stumbling around”.

Jones waited for his ex-girlfriend to go to the bathroom to vomit before he pounced on the victim who had earlier gone to bed in a room at the house.

The court heard Jones entered the room and closed the door before the victim told him to “f--k off”.

However, Jones grabbed the victim’s face and pulled it towards himself before he sexually assaulted her, the court was told.

Jones exited the room and was confronted by his ex-girlfriend who accused the fiend of “cheating on her”.

Concerned guests called triple-0 but Jones drove home intoxicated without incident.

The alleged rape and sexual assaults were reported to police.

Investigators set up a “pre-text call” between Jones and the victim in which the fiend “apologised” and claimed he “did not know why he did what he did”.

Police arrested Jones who made a “no comment” interview but later claimed his lewd offending was “entirely consensual”.

The court heard Jones graduated high school before he worked for various Queensland government departments.

Jones later moved to Melbourne before joining Victoria Police in 2014.

The court was told Jones, a father of two, was “very proud of being able to join the police force”.

However, Jones was “forced to resign” from Victoria Police in late 2017 after he committed vile offences in October 2015 “while under the influence of alcohol”.

Jones was convicted, fined $2000 and handed an 18-month community correction order.

BASKETBALL RAPIST COREY FIDDES COVERED VICTIM’S MOUTH

Former star Melbourne basketballer Corey Fiddes who raped a woman multiple times left his “traumatised” victim in a living “nightmare”.

Fiddes was sentenced in the County Court in March to a minimum 40-month jail term after he was found guilty of three counts of rape.

Fiddes worked as a real estate agent and was a semi-professional basketballer in a lower NBL league when he raped his victim in early-2021.

The court heard Fiddes sexually violated his victim after the pair encountered each other on a dancefloor.

Corey Fiddes was found guilty of rape. Picture: Supplied.

According to evidence, Fiddes told the victim “you must want to (do this) because you’re quite w--”, the court was told.

The court heard the victim “became more insistent (she didn’t want to do anything sexual)” and told Fiddes “no, no, no”.

Judge Simon Moglia said Fiddes took the victim to a room where she told him she didn’t want to have sex.

However, Fiddes said “fair enough” but raped his victim anyway.

Fiddes was a semi-pro basketballer and real estate agent.

Fiddes also moved his victim off the bed and onto the floor where he committed a vile act, the court heard.

Judge Moglia said friends of the victim entered the room after hearing sounds which had them “concerned”.

Fiddes told friends he seemed “hated” for “what he did” and then left the house.

Judge Moglia also accepted Fiddes put his hand over the victim’s mouth while he raped her.

The court heard Fiddes attended Wesley College before he accepted an illustrious basketball scholarship at the University of California.

Fiddes attended the top American college’s San Francisco campus but returned to Melbourne after only 12 months due to an injury and a family tragedy.

Fiddes then sought work as a landscaper while playing semi-professional basketball in the NBL1 league after he returned to Melbourne in 2019.

Fiddes then scored his real estate job but was forced to quit after he was initially charged with five counts of rape.

Fiddes was convicted and jailed for a maximum of five years and six months but was not made a registered sex offender.

GRUB TREE LOPPER HAMISH AHEARN RAPED WOMAN

Hamilton tree lopper Hamish Ahearn raped a woman despite her pleas for him to stop.

Ahearn was sentenced in the County Court in February to a minimum 12-month jail term after he was found guilty of rape.

Ahearn raped his victim in early-2021.

The victim told her assailant “no, please stop” but Ahearn kept violating her.

Ahearn, who was found not guilty of two further rape counts, continued raping the victim despite the young woman’s repeated pleas for him to “please stop”.

Hamish Ahearn was found guilty of rape. Picture: Facebook.

The fiend eventually halted his assault after the victim began crying.

Ahearn ejaculated and “got off” the victim.

Police arrested Ahearn who admitted to investigators he “decided to keep going because (I) thought she might be keen”.

The victim, in an impact statement read to the court, said she experienced “embarrassment and humiliation”.

The court heard Ahearn, of Hamilton, is a father of two who is expecting another child with his partner.

Ahearn, who has no prior convictions, has worked as an arborist since dropping out of high school, the court was told.

Judge Wendy Wilmoth accepted multiple references tended to the court which cited Ahearn as a “hardworking and reliable man” who “regretted what he did”.

Ahearn was jailed for a maximum of two years.

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